Business guru Peter Drucker used to advise every organisation to ask itself, “What business are we in?” So what exactly is the business of the church? Are we in the religion business? The business of teaching “values”? The business of adding a spiritual dimension to life? The business of promoting justice? In these days of church decline, we had […]
Who needs the church? Read More »
As we are apprenticed, we ourselves are changed into the people God always dreamed we could become, and we contribute our small bit to the mosaic that is the Kingdom—and that brings joy. Frankly, is anything else worthwhile?
What on earth is discipleship? Read More »
It’s nice to be right, at least sometimes. Even partly right is an encouragement. The Beginning – in the UK Way back in 2008, I wrote an article for Good Idea called “Is Fresh Expressions just the latest ‘Flavour of the Month’?” At that time, everyone seemed to be talking about Fresh Expressions. The Church
Whatever happened to Fresh Expressions – and where is it now? Read More »
The world divides into two categories: those who divide the world into two categories and those who don’t. I’m one of the first. So the people reading this divide into two broad groups: some are people who have decided that they want to be followers of Jesus, Christians; others are people who are not sure
Seven Reasons You Should Not Become A Christian (And One Reason You Should) Read More »
Making Disciples Today“Discipleship” is something of a buzz word in churches these days. But what does it actually mean? And why is it important? How does it relate to spiritual growth? Is it the same as spiritual formation or something different? Is it just “the flavour of the month,” like so many, here today and
Making Disciples Today Read More »
This is a workshop given by John Bowen & Tim Haughton at the Vital Church Planting Conference 2012. Length: 1h:05m Subscribe to all our Podcasts here
Making Disciples – VCP 2012 Workshop by John Bowen & Tim Haughton Read More »
This is a continuation of http://institute.wycliffecollege.ca/?p=112 The first part of this article was about in-house distinctions of spirituality: what are the different branches of the Christian tree, if you like. In this second part, I want to think about—well, I guess the opposite of in-house is out-house—what distinguishes Christian spirituality, this Christian tree (whichever of the
Christian Spirituality: Part II DISTINCTIVES OF CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY Read More »
by John Bowen and Harold PercyIn a world where many are “exploring their spirituality”, how can the church communicate the faith in ways that are faithful but fresh to those who have no background in church or Bible? The authors offer from their experience an outline of how an introductory course of four sessions can
Just the Basics: Teaching the Faith to Beginners Read More »
The direct route is not always the best route. C.S.Lewis says, for example, that if we want joy, the worst thing we can do is go out looking for it, because we will never find it. If we want joy, we need to forget about it and simply get to work on whatever God has
An Unexpected Key to Evangelism Read More »
Many church members are not enthusiastic about outreach and evangelism simply because they do not understand the nature and calling of the church. This booklet offers 14 sermon outlines and two sample sermons on different aspects of the church, from the origins of the church in the Old Testament via leadership, gifts, community, sacraments, mission,
Preaching the Church\’s Mission Read More »